Enforcing laws shouldn’t be mistaken for lack of compassion, says India to UN on Rohingya crisis

A day after Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, the top United Nations human rights official, condemned Myanmar’s “brutal security operation” in Rakhine state, Syed Akbaruddin, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN said “enforcing laws should not be mistaken for lack of compassion” and also regretted the UN body’s overlook on the “central role of terrorism”.

Further insisting that the country must be concerned about illegal migrants with possible security threats to the country, Akbaruddin was quoted by ANI, saying, “Assessments of human rights should not be a matter of political convenience. We believe achieving human rights goals calls for objective consideration, balanced judgments, and verification of facts.”

Earlier, the UN human right official, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein hit out at the Narendra Modi-government and criticized its attempts to deport the Rohingyas seeking refuge in India. Citing that around 40,000 Rohingya refugees had settled in India and only 16,000 among them have received refugee documentation, Zed, in strong words of criticism, said, “I deplore current measures in India to deport Rohingyas at a time of such violence against them in their country. India cannot carry out collective expulsions, or return people to a place where they risk torture or other serious violations.”

Marking as one of the strongest criticism, by an international diplomat, to India on the Rohingya crisis, Zed further added, “However, by virtue of customary law, its ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the obligations of due process and the universal principle of non-refoulement, India cannot carry out collective expulsions, or return people to a place where they risk torture or other serious violations.”

According to the customary law, its ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, India cannot carry out collective expulsions, or return people to a place where they risk torture or other serious violations.

However, stating that India has absorbed the maximum number of refuges, Minister of State for Home, Kiren Rijiju said, “I want to tell the international organizations whether the Rohingyas are registered under the United Nations Human Rights Commission or not. They are illegal immigrants in India.”